Sunday, December 27, 2009

Happy holidays to the extended Hit It and Quit It family. Mad festive aroha to our crew- Frank Booker, Julien Dyne, Ben Lawson, Sam Harman. Also to all our guests from the past year (Anthony Shakir, Trus'me, Domu, Monkz, Submariner, Eru Dangerspiel, Mike Fabulous, etc....), we promise many more for 2010. Big things for HIQI in the Tens (is that what we're calling it??).

Here's our last show of the year, a round up of our hot picks from 2009. We're back Jan. 4, 2010, see you then for another surprise special...

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

This is my introductory post here on the ole HIQI blog and so I am going to use it to introduce myself, as is customary.

Hello people my name is Sam and I am an aural enthusiast. I guess that's how come Recloose asked me to get involved in all of this. As I do not produce any music (currently) I can't get you hipped on my beats but what I can do is hip you to cats who I dig on and hopefully you do too.

So to the crux of my post and hopefully this will give you an idea who I am and what I dig. I bring to you: Fake the Talkbox; who is responsible for what I believe is my favourite footage on Youtube.

This video is basically what I'm all about, this cat has nothing but mad love for music and quite clearly Roger. Japan is one of my favourite places in the world because of cats just like Fake.

and no wonder Fake was so inspired by Roger TroutmanPeople forget this man's gift too quick , what a cat!

Anyho ho ho thats all from me for now, hope yah dig it.Happy Holidays and Much Love to you and yoursMagic Sam

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Fingertips Records is relaunching for the digital age and proudly presents ‘The Cardboard Hoax’ by Frank Booker.

Originally released on limited edition vinyl as two separate 12"s on Untracked Recordings, these tracks are now available for the first time as digital downloads and have garnered support from the likes of Todd Terje, Mark E, The Revenge, Ashley Beedle and of course, Fingertips Records main man Recloose.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

This week we present to you our very special Anthony 'Shake' Shakir special. I was particularly ambitious in that I did a live mix and was cue-ing up the interview (which I sliced into about twelve 'themed' segments), plus the George studio has been in shambles for months now (no headphone cue to hear voice-overs for instance) so its a little rough around the edges. But judging from the reactions we've been getting the vibe was all there. A little background on Shake and recent news...

Shake has been an inspiration and a friend since we met in the middle late 1990s in Detroit. I was just starting out releasing music for Planet E and getting a first hand crash course into the Detroit electronic music scene. Shake's records quickly lured my ear to his personal production style. It had all the traits of Detroit techno up to that point- dark, melancholy, funk-driven, synthetic but soulful. But on top of these Motor City trademarks there was something distinct about Shake's sound- it skillfully melded not only percussive layers of synths and drum machines but also had a pronounced hip-hop aesthetic to it, especially in its use of sampling.

My fondest memories of Shake took place at Detroit's own daily music convention center- Record Time in Roseville. This is where all the local records would come out on a weekly basis and there was always a crew of DJs looking to get their hands on the new stuff on the day the orders would come in. Shake was usually up there unofficially leading the proceedings. He'd have a stack of 12"s in front of him and wasn't shy about hijacking the house system to listen to his pickings. Shake is a guy who doesn't mince his words- he was always brutally honest and usually pretty hilarious in what he thought about what he laid his ears on. I'm just lucky I avoided Roseville the day my records dropped on the release sheet...

Shake was also the guy who I first heard use the term 'life issues' and their power to compel better music out of an artist (no doubt a recurring theme for most people from the city of Detroit). While we didn't talk about it much in our conversation, Shake is no stranger to his own life issues, having been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2000, today left unable to walk and faced with the daily struggle of paying for medicine in a country that has had little interest in looking after its own. As debilitating as this disease is, it hasn't kept him down- he's back in the studio and was heading to Germany for a tour the day after our conversation took place.

Not only does Shake remain to be Detroit's most innovative and unsung techno producer, he is also renowned for having an opinion on just about everything, which no doubt made for a great interview.

I'll be posting the FULL unedited interview later this week but thought I'd get this up in the meantime for you. Note, it starts about 45 minutes in. Enjoy...

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Crew. BIG bloggin lately. First up, a friendly reminder about our REVUE Vol. II tomorrow night at the Basement in Auckland. Destined to be a show of experimental future retro holiday party vibe galore, with your regulars Julien Dyne, Frank Booker and Recloose PLUS Chef D and Buttafingers bringing the boogie until 3am.

And here's our celebratory Unlimited Touch edit in case you missed it.... (all about the love)....

Finally, would really like to big up my man Dave at Soulm8 online. We had the pleasure of meeting up at the last Southport Weekender. We've since become fans of each others' output. Please check out the latest issue of Soulm8 online here, well worth a visit for fans of soul music and all its incarnartions....

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Just got a link for this set from Kyoto, it was the first on my Japan tour from last week (thanks Hagi & Kazuo). I had lots of fun on this one, a small spot but people we're into the vibes and it helped immensely having my man Marron from Based on Kyoto in the house (scroll down for a post about his magic steel drum guitar styles).

Also want to welcome my homies Frank Booker and Magic Sam (and Julien Dyne, where you at son?) to the blogger fold. I'm putting foot to ass with these dudes, they're always going on about this record and that movie and this book and this show and that pedal and this sample and that synth blah blah. So lets take it to the blog fellas! But hold the football talk please (Booker!), get your own blog for all that ish haaaaa.....

Sunday, December 6, 2009

I've been a regular follower of both Harry Allen's Media Assassin blog as well as Wax Poetics for awhile now (duh). So it was great to hear Harry Allen catching up with editor-in-chief of Wax Poetics Andre Torres as well as writer Michael Gonzalez (who wrote the cover story on Curtis Mayfield and his Superfly odyssey) on his Nonfiction show last week.... Check below for the direct link to the show, the conversation starts after the 30 minute mark.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

This coming Monday we're going to trawl through a large stack of new music and promos from Japan. The following Monday we'll be airing our very special Anthony 'Shake' Shakir interview as well as showcasing his music in commemoration of his pending 'Frictionalism' Rush Hour release.